Struggling

I'm really struggling at the moment. Loose a few pounds and then have a bad day and put a couple on. I just can't get in the right 'head space' at the moment. I do lots of exercise but unless the detrmination is there then I think that diets just don't work. I let myself have Sunday off and a nice pudding with the family (only day we all eat together). That bought the sugar cravings back and I ate too much sweet stuff yesterday and picked all evening. I must just eat my 3 meals and then have nothing because as soon as I do have even a little snack, even fruit, I just want more food. I will do better!Oh, can I ask something, can anyone see my weight. I think it says that I'm not sharing it but if I look at my profile it should be set up to share. Any ideas anyone?

Looks like you need to keep a really good food journal, record everything everyday that goes into your mouth. After a couple of weeks you'd see your not "giving yourself Sunday off" your really sabotaging yourself and your goals with a miserable out come. Sounds like your really down on yourself at the moment, did the Sunday off really make you happy enough for it?

Your weight isn't showing, sorry I have no idea why.

Climb back up on the horse and set a goal that you will indeed do better. Stop fighting yourself, be happy with the new and improved you.

Hi there! Just had a quick look, it says you are not sharing your weight or your journal..so no, I can't see anything. I think a few people have been having problems with sharing their weight and I don't think there's a definite fix for it at the moment. Someone else should be able to help you better with that one!

Secondly, you sound very much like myself. I'm an 'all or nothing' kind of person, I can't do things 'in moderation', if I have a piece of chocolate I will tell myself that that's the only piece I will have, but it will be a lie, I will without any doubt end up eating the entire thing and more. Not ideal when trying to lose weight!

I was the same, this time last year I was dieting and to be honest, wasn't in it 100%. I just had so many other things going on and food was my friend, you can always count on food to make you feel better. I knew I wanted (needed!) to lose weight, and I knew that I could probably do it even though I had failed so many times before but I wasn't quite ready mentally to fully commit to such a big change. I like to call this my 'limbo stage' where I was close to jumping in and really wanted to, but just kept dipping my toe in instead. If you're anything like me, you have to hit 'the point'. Everyone has a point, the point where you really don't want to be the way you are any longer and you really are ready to change your life for the better and once you fully commit, you won't look back, ever. Or at least the hope is that you don't! It's about changing your habits one small step at a time. For me, cutting out junk food, sugar and most carbs was really hard at first but I was in the zone and was ready, I just focused on not slipping up (at all!) for the first 2 weeks and my body adjusted and everything was fine again. I'm now at a point where I don't even need to look at a desserts menu in a restaurant because I know it's no good for me and I don't particularly want to be putting all of those things that are not good for me into my body when I spent all this time trying to flush everything unhealthy out of it. Of course it would taste amazing and I would love to eat it, just to taste it, but I don't need it and can go without..plus the sugar cravings that follow are just not worth it, I'd rather never eat dessert again than go through the cravings again! You just have to believe in yourself and you will do it. Where there's a will, there's a way and if you want something bad enough you will make it happen

Thanks for the replies everyone. It helps to know that there are people out there who understand. Sunkeeper, no I guess the pleasure of the Sunday meal wasn't worth the feelings afterwards. Will have to re-think that one. Sergeant S, I with you on the not being able to eat 1 piece of chocolate, if I start on that kind if thing I would eat the lot. Need to avoid those sort of triggers for now. Can't imagine never looking at the dessert menu though, but we'll see. I lost almost 3 stone 3 years ago. I watched my Dad dying of prostate cancer at the same time as having chemo for lymphoma myself, so some of it was down to the illness and stress. I did make sure that I ate healthily though and actually felt at my fittest for years, even during the treatment. Ironic really. However, I lost nearly all my body fat and looked gaunt. I put 1/2 stone back on and felt great at that and looked better too(147lb). Since then it's crept back on over a couple of summer and Christmas holidays. I've now booked to go to France in July, so my challenge is to be back to the 147 by then. I know I can do it, just need to get through the first week and then I'm usually ok.

Hang in there.... I am restarting my healthy eating again. Was doing fairly well until a car accident in August derailed me being able to go to the gym. Since I couldn't exercise I let myself fall into really unhealthy eating habits again... so I am with you on needing to reestablish a healthy pattern. We can do it, just gotta stick with it... the food diary really helps me!

If you are just starting it can be really hard to say "no thank you" when the pudding is passed around or offered. Some of the things that I do to help - Offer to split with someone.Get the highest fat, lowest flour content dessert available (cheesecake w/out the crust is a good one)Leave the room.Eat a full serving of it anyway.

Most important bit is to not stop trying. DO NOT lambast yourself. You have to love who you are, faults and all, and be willing to forgive your mistakes. The faster your can forgive yourself, the faster you can pull your big girl panties up and get back in the game. (Or big boy knickers - depending).

Yes, the food diary is great, as long as you post everything and are completely honest. I'm trying to do a -1000 calories food v exercise deficit, but it doesn't work every day. I didn't have a chance to exercise today so it was only around 900. Still, that's 2 days down and I'm in control. Must stick with it.Re puddings, when I lost weight before I used to share a pudding (when we went out) but I now get by mainly on Weight Watchers frozen desserts. There are a couple of delicious ones with around 170 calories. I struggle to cut this sort of thing out completely so these are a compromise.Anyway, thanks for the reply, you made me laugh, especially re the big girl panties (yes, I am a woman).Do you need and buddies?

In the beginning, I had a hard time with portion control and self control. I heard about a trick and it really worked for me.

When I eat (especially eating out which I do a lot because I travel), I would divide my food in half on my plate. I would eat that half and still be hungry (of course). Then I would tell myself that I had to wait 10 minutes and if I was still hungry I could eat half of what was still on my plate.

Sometimes I would end up eating it and sometimes I wouldn't. The trick for me was knowing that I didn't have to leave the table hungry or unsatisfied. I could have what I wanted until I was full, but only until I was full.

I was trying to think of a way to tweak this for your sweets issue. Maybe you can tell yourself that if you can wait 10 minutes, if you still want it, you can have half. If that wasn't enough you can have half of what is left in another 10 minutes. The trick is to wait just long enough for the craving to pass. But not to totally deny yourself because it is too discouraging and you might have a tendency to give up for the whole day if you mess up once.

I hope this helps.

Also, for the weight not showing make sure it doesn't say you are sharing with your buddies only. It has to say you are sharing with everyone.

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

Hello. Have you ever thought about our manners at the table and how they might affect how much we eat? Here are some manners that slow down our eating and teach us to chew and enjoy every bite. Sometimes ...